Events

At Life Above 8, we believe events are great opportunities to promote the communities that host them. We couldn’t be more proud to show off all the Hayward/Seeley/Cable area has to offer, from our amazing trails, Northwoods beauty and small-town hospitality. Events also bring visitors who help support area businesses and contribute to the local economy.

Our small portfolio of events are not intended to compete with any of the other larger, more traditional finish line events in the area, such as the venerable Chequamegon MTB Festival, the Borah Epic or the Fat Bike Birkie. Those are amazing races with long histories and large organizations behind them. Our events are intended to attract more of the DIY crowd who love cycling, think of themselves as competitive, but care less about age-group podiums than what beer they are gonna find at the finish party.

The Hungry Bear 100 is an old-school gravel race with low entry fees and no support of any kind where all the “winners” earn are bragging rights and a handshake or pat on the back. The race is timed, but feels like more of a ride or perhaps a rolling family reunions to the loyal participants. The Tour de Chequamegon bikepacking weekend was created specifically to drop a midwest pin in the route map at Bikepacking.com, to promote the amazing gravel forest roads in area and to introduce people to bikepacking who might be a bit nervous about attempting a trip on their own. We have plans for one more event that will have a similar DIY ethos, the Seeley Search Party, an urban messenger-style race in the Northwoods. Stay tuned for more details soon.

I (Seeley Dave) could not be more honored to take over the reins of the Hungry Bear. I shadowed Tim and Odia at both events last year and will work to keep the same fun but challenging feel to the races.

We will also continue to donate profits from these events to great local nonprofits, directly invest in local cycling, promote the area and make our events more inclusive and diverse.

Hope to see you at these fun events. Registration will open soon for all the following events.

Saturday, May 11th, 2024 100, 60 or 30 miles of gravel forest roads.	Oct. 6th – 8th, 2023 Three days of guided bikepacking